I don't know what else to eat!!!!

elliotl530

For the last 8 months or so I've been losing weight. I've lost around 20lbs by eating 1900calories a day (with many blips along the way), I now want to maintain my weight which MFP says I can do by eating 2900 calories a day. How do I suddenly eat an extra 1000 calories a day without making every day a blip?!

I want to be healthy but there's only so much fish and veg I can eat in one day and I'm currently consistently 500-600 calories short and still losing weight. It's like I've retrained my appetite!

rosebarnalice

Try just increasing your portion sizes just a bit. You may need to experiment to see how much more you really can eat and feel energetic and healthy, and also maintain.

diannethegeek

I originally put this list together to help people struggling to reach a minimum of 1200 calories, but once I transitioned into maintenance it helped give me some ideas of what to add to my own diet: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods

Try increasing each meal by 100-200 calories. Bump up your portion sizes. Look for more calorie dense options. Your body and hunger signals will catch up eventually.

rhtexasgal

Eat more calorie dense foods! There are plenty of options like avocado, olive oil (great for salad dressings), any nut butters, bananas, coconut oil, real butter, whole eggs, etc.

segacs

Hah. It's funny when people ask that 'cause you always think, well, how did you gain the weight in the first place? But of course it's a legitimate question, 'cause when you switch to maintenance, you don't want to go back to your old unhealthy habits. You want to stick to all the good habits you've picked up during weight loss, and still eat a balanced diet, just at maintenance instead of at a deficit.

You can increase the quantities of some of what you eat. Like, 6oz portions of meat instead of 4oz, or more vegetables or more oils and dairy and stuff.

You can add some whole grains, like pasta or whole wheat bread. A couple of slices of bread can add a few hundred calories to your day.

Finally, it's okay to make a bit more space in your day for snacks, treats or empty calories. Like a glass of wine or a beer with dinner? It's okay. Chocoholic? A bit more is fine. Remember, maintenance is for life, so don't keep depriving yourself.

AsISmile

Reverse dieting.
Increase your daily calories by 100 one week at the time.
It is way easier to adjust to that then jumping up 1000 calories in one go.

Also, I like the increase portion size.
If that doesn't cut it anymore, add snacks.

kailyw05

Chia seeds, hemp hearts, and flax seeds are all things you can throw into pretty much any meal which add a boatload of calories. They barely taste like anything so you don't even know they're there. They offer an awesome boost in protein, fibre, omega's, and other benefits.

And like others said, there's no harm in using a bit more oil, sauce, butter, etc to add flavour AND calories to your meals.

doesthisappmakemelookfat

Add some nuts. Healthy and calorie dense.

gramarye

The 1000 calorie thing makes sense if you had your weight loss set to 2 pounds per week -- that's a 1000-calorie deficit per day. If you'd never lowered to 1 pound or .5 pounds, that might explain the sudden jump.

But I'm seconding @diannethegeek's list of higher calorie foods, and all the advice to slowly increase your calories until you find a maintenance number that works for you.

Nuke_64

You'd could bank some. I don't seem to be able to eat the same amount of calories every day and have a lot blips. So when I go in maintenance, my plan is keep a daily goal that is a deficit to account for blips. As others suggested, go up slowly but for what I'm suggesting, maybe stop at 500 or somewhere else that makes sense for you.

andyluvv

Liquid calories - research has shown that your body doesn't really identify liquid calories for hunger, so adding a cup of milk here and there or even some hot chocolate will help you get there

Yi5hedr3

Healthy fats....a no-brainier!

kommodevaran

You don't have to up your intake all at once. You can do that in increments - +100 calories/day every week is reasonable.

It's not just imagination - your tastebuds and appetite are flexible and respond to what you eat. Some foods make you feel full faster and longer. Eating habits influence what we consider normal, and we can learn to eat more apropriate portion sizes.

Why just fish and vegetables? Do you have allergies, are you a pescatarian? Any food can be part of a healthy diet. What did you eat before you started losing weight? Eat some of that if you like to, but obviously not as much as before

zyxst

Eat what you like, just more of it.

BettyBoles

Eat more calorie foods like bananas, milk, nuts, butter, whole grain, eggs, meat, fish etc.

Yi5hedr3

Don't do it "suddenly".

sijomial

Yi5hedr3 wrote: »

Don't do it "suddenly".

Doing it suddenly is fine if you understand the processes going on.
If I was that far under every day I would definitely make a large jump in calories rather than keep losing weight I didn't want to lose.

BruceHedtke

I've never had an issue with introducing more ice cream into my day when I had calories to spend. Or Nutella.